Collapsible grain-cleaning device.



I. A. JOHNSON.

COLLAPSJBLE GRAlN CLEANING DEVICE. APPLICATION mco JAN- 31. 1917..

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

ant sans Parr m JOHN A. JOHNSON, or MANFRED,"NORTH DAKOTA.

COLLAPSIBLE GRAIN-CLEANING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. JOHNSO a citizen of the United, States, residing at Manfred, in the county of Wells and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Grain-Cleaning Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a grain cleaning device and has for its primary object to provide a device of this character whereby wheat, barley, oats and other similar grains may be readily cleaned and at the same time serving to remove any wild grain, such as wild oats from the good grain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which can be quickly and readily collapsed and packed in such a manner. as to occupy a minimum amount of space.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame work designed to support an endless apron at an inclination, anda feed hopper disposed above the apron, means being provided for rotating the apron beneath the hopper, the good grain gravitating down the apron, while the Wild grain v or other foreign substance adheres to the apron and is carried upwardly and over the 'end of the same to a position in the rear where means is provided for scraping the wild grain beards and other foreign matter from the apron.

A' further object of the invention is to provide a fieeced endless apron to which the wild beards of the grain or other foreign matter is designed to adhere and subsequently be scraped oil.

A still further object of the invention is to pivotally support the upper end of the apron beneath the hopper and to provide means for vertically adjusting the lower end of the apron to vary the angular inclination of the apron with respect to the hopper for use in connection with different kinds of grain. v

Withthese and other objects in view vas will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises the various novel fea- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 9, 191%.

Application filed January 31, 1917, Serial No. 145,677.

tures of construction, combination and arrangem'ent of parts, as will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings,-

' Figure 1 is aperspective viewof my novel grain cleaning device. r

Fig. 2 isa vertical longitudinal view through the device.

Similar characters of reference are used to denote like parts throughout the accompanying drawings and the following description.

; Referring more particularly to the drawings, my improved grain cleaning device is shown to consist of a pair of substantially triangular supporting frames A, each of whichconsists of a vertically disposed supporting leg 1 which has attached to its upper enda hinge memberZ that is provided with a forward and lateral extension 3, Pivotally attached to this lateral projection 3 is the upper end of a downwardly and forwardly inclined supporting leg 4,

sectional the lower end of which is held in spaced relation to the leg 1 through the medium of a brace arm 5 that is pivo'tally connected as at 6 to the supporting leg 1, and has its opposite end engagedover a lateral projection 7 carried by the leg 4.

Disposed between the triangular frames A is an apron'frame B which consists of a pair of spaced side bars 8 that are connected by a platform 9 that is supported at its opposite sides by the cross bars or strips 10 and is securely attached at its opposite sides to the side bars 8. As shown the plat form 9 has its upper and lower ends terminating at points adjacent to the opposite ends of the side bars.

Journaled in the, opposite ends of each of the side bars 8 are rollers 11 and 12 respectively, the roller 11 being provided with trunnions 18 thatare slidably and adjustably mounted in slots 14 extending transversely through the lower ends of the side bars 8. y

The trunnions 15 of the roller 12 extend through the upper ends of the side bars 8 and through the upper ends of the supporting legs 4, the latter forming a suitable support for the apron frame.

Fixed upon the outer end of one of these trunnions is a sprocket wheel 16 around which is trained a sprocket chain 17, and

which is connected to and trainedarounda sprocket wheel l8 n1ounte d' upon a stub shaft 19 that is journaled in the supporting leg 4 at a suitable distance below the upper sprocket wheel 16. This lower sprocket wheel 18 is designed to be positioned within easy reach of the operator and connected to this stub shaft l9 0f the sprocket is a crankhandle by the rotation of which the upper roller 12' may be to so as to make it most effective in its operation. While .it is desired to have the outer surface of 'the'apron fieeced, it is to be understood that this apron maybe constructed of any such material as canton flannel or any other material having a nap of the desired length'which will be most efiective inthe operation of the device.

7 The lower end of the apron frame 13 is designed to be supported through the medium of a pair of supporting legs 22, each of which is pivotally attached at its upper end as at 23 to the lower end of the side bar 8, while the outer end of each supporting leg is provided with a sharpened pin .23 designed to engage the floor or surface upon which the'device is mounted to hold the lower end of the apron frame in any desired adjusted position.

A grain hopper 24:, which in this instance is shown to be of substantially triangular relation in cross section, is adjustably supported above the upper end of theapron frame. The opposite rear ends 25 of the hopper are pivotally and detachably supported as at 26 between the supporting brackets 27. The opposite forward end portionsof the hopper are supported through the medium ofsupporting legs 28, each of which has its upper end'pivotally attached as at 29 to the end of the hopper and its opposite end frictionally resting upon the uppersurface of the supporting leg 4:, and its lower end if desired, may be supported in a notch 30 formed in the supporting leg 4:. The lower portion of the hopper is provided through out its length with a longitudinally extending slot 31 through which the grain is adapted to be discharged on to the endless apron 21. a

In the operation of the device the grain to be cleaned, and we will say for instance it is desired to clean wheat, is placed the hopper and the endless apron rotated in the direction of the arrow whereby the wheat as it is discharged from the hopper ,on to adhere-to the fleece or nap of the apron and be carried-over and around to the rear of the apron frame, where it will be scraped ofiithroughthe medium of a scraperbar 32 that extends transversely across and is connected toutheside bars 8. This scraper bar has its opposite edges sharpened as at 33 and rests against the underneath surface of the other apron so as to effectively scrape the beards or foreign particles ,from the apronas it isrotated. V v 7' Y While it is preferably desired torotate the apron in the direction indicated by the arrow it is to be understood that the same maybe operated in a reverse direction and still clean the'grain but not quite as eiiec- "tively as if rotated as described, and inorder to provide for this 1 have sharpened both edges of the scraper blade 32; v I 7 While I have shown a single strip of metal used as a scraper blade, I desire to have it understood that a plurality of wires may be stretched across the apron and connected to the side bars and will effectively serve the same purpose as the scraper b'lade32. g t 7 V For instance ifitis desired to clean oats or barley, the lower end of the apron frame a B will be lowered so that the-barley 'orroats which is of a diiferentcharacter and shape from the wheat will roll or gravitate more readily and freely down the apron. In

view of the fact that the wheat grains are more rounded than theoat or barley grains it will be apparent that they will more readily roll down the apron when disposed at a less inclination than would theoat or barley grains. "Therefore, to provide for an 7 equal gravitation of various kinds of grain, adjusting means is provided for the lower end of the'apron frame. H V

From the construction oft'he device shown and described, it will be apparent that the device can be readily collapsed or disassembled and packed together in a compact bundle so as to occupy a minimum amount of space when there is nofurther use for thedevic. p v w I What I claim is': V A knock down grain cleaning device comprising a pair of mainsupporting frames, each frame consisting of inclined supporting legs connected together at their upper ends, a hopper pivotally mounted atits ends and at onevside to the upper ends of said inclined legs, a supporting leg pivotally con-,

neoted at its upper end to each end of the hopper and to the side'opposite the pivotal cent inclined supporting deg; a separator member pivoted at its upper end to said In testimony whereof I have signed my inclined supporting legs at points between name to this specification in the presence of the pivotal connections of the hopper and two subscribing witnesses.

the lower ends of the hopper supporting legs JOHN A. JOHNSON. with said inclined legs, and means for ad- Witnesses: V

justably supporting the lower end of said N. JoHNsoN,

separator member. J. G. RENDEN.

- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. G. 

